Doping research has predominantly focused on proximal cognitive predictors of athletes’ intentions to use prohibited substances, often conceptualizing doping as a final behavioral outcome. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Goal Systems Theory, the present study examined the relationships between doping intentions, perceived means of performance enhancement, and internal and external life aspirations among competitive athletes. A total of 204 athletes (Mage = 22.99 years) completed measures assessing doping intentions, perceived effectiveness of different performance enhancement means, and aspiration components. The results indicated that stronger doping intentions were negatively associated with internal aspiration components and positively associated with external aspiration components. Doping intentions were also positively related to perceived effectiveness of nutritional supplements, doping, and combined enhancement practices, while being negatively associated with reliance on training and nutrition alone. Several indirect effects were observed, demonstrating that perceived performance enhancement partially mediated the relationships between doping intentions and aspiration components. These findings suggest that performance enhancement behaviors are cognitively embedded within athletes’ motivational goal systems and play an active role in shaping aspiration-related evaluations. Overall, this study advances doping research by conceptualizing doping behavior as part of a broader, goal-directed, motivational structure rather than an isolated outcome.

Match fixing has been acknowledged as a major threat to the integrity of sports. The aim of the present study was to measure athletes' experiences, perceptions and knowledge about match fixing. The sample consisted of 386 team sport athletes from six European countries (Mage = 21.21 years, SD = 5.15). The results indicated that a large proportion of the participants reported experiences of match fixing. In addition, biased responding was observed when participants asked to evaluate the prevalence and acceptance of match fixing in their own clubs and other clubs. Education and support for whistleblowing were suggested as the main means to prevent match fixing. The study's findings provide policymakers with valuable information for the development of appropriate prevention efforts against match fixing.

This study evaluates accelerometer performance of three new state of the art smartphones and focuses on accuracy. The motivating research question was whether accelerator accuracy obtained with these off-the-shelf modern smartphone accelerometers was or was not statistically different from that of a gold-standard reference system. We predicted that the accuracy of the three modern smartphone accelerometers in human movement data acquisition do not differ from that of the Vicon MX motion capture system. To test this prediction, we investigated the comparative performance of three different commercially available current generation smartphone accelerometers among themselves and to a gold-standard Vicon MX motion capture system. A single subject design was implemented for this study. Pearson's correlation coefficients® were calculated to verify the validity of the smartphones' accelerometer data against that of the Vicon MX motion capture system. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the smartphones' accelerometer performance reliability compared to that of the Vicon MX motion capture system. Results demonstrated that (a) the tested smartphone accelerometers are valid and reliable devices for estimating accelerations and (b) there were not significant differences among the three current generation smartphones and the Vicon MX motion capture system's mean acceleration data. This evidence indicates how well recent generation smartphone accelerometer sensors are capable of measuring human body motion. This study, which bridges a significant information gap between the accuracy of accelerometers measured close to production and their accuracy in actual smartphone research, should be interpreted within the confines of its scope, limitations and strengths. Further research is warranted to validate our arguments, suggestions, and results, since this is the first study on this topic.

This study investigated swim coaches' perceptions of professional development issues and current training practices according to their coaching experience, education level, and gender. An online survey (January—April 2022) was completed by 123 swim coaches (96 male/27 female) of competitive swimmers based in 41 countries. The survey consisted of 36 questions divided into six sections: (1) background information, (2) developing swim coaching through learning, (3) self-evaluation, (4) interpersonal-intrapersonal interactions, (5) life skills, and (6) analyzing swimming performance. Pearson chi-square assessed the relationship between the frequency of responses and professional background and gender. The survey results indicated that swim coaches' educational level is potentially one of the most influential parameters affecting the coaches' perceptions about their own professional development. The data presented may be used for the future design of coach education programmes as they advance current knowledge on understanding psycho-social issues related to professional development and training perceptions involved in the competitive swimming environment.

Research suggests that doping use is an underrecognized problem in football and is on the rise during the last years. Anti-doping education is one of the most important pillars in the fight against doping. The aim of the present study was to investigate football player's preferences for anti-doping education. Participants were 630 football players (456 players were males; 72.4%) from Norway ( n = 302), Greece ( n = 186) and Lithuania ( n = 142). They were administered a questionnaire including questions on demographic information (e.g., age, gender, years of experience, trainings per week) and factual information related to players’ preferences about anti-doping education. Results showed that the majority of players weren't willing to receive anti-doping education, with females, older players and players from Lithuania and Greece reporting higher willingness. With respect to the preferences about education, most players preferred short explanatory videos and online education that would be applied to the whole team/club. Concerning the content, participants requested for information on health side-effects, and case studies with doped and clean athletes’ experiences. Male and older players, as well as players from Norway and Greece preferred online courses, while adolescent and female players and players from Lithuania preferred both online and group courses. The findings of the study provide valuable information for the development of tailor-made and effective anti-doping education.

The new smart insole PODOSmart®, is introduced as a new tool for gait analysis against high cost laboratory based equipment. PODOSmart® system measures walking profile and gait variables in real life conditions. PODOSmart® insoles consists of wireless sensors, can be fitted into any shoe and offer the ability to measure spatial, temporal, and kinematic gait parameters. The intelligent insoles feature several sensors that detect and capture foot movements and a microprocessor that calculates gait related biomechanical data. Gait analysis results are presented in PODOSmart® platform. This study aims to present the characteristics of this tool and to validate it comparing with a stereophotogrammetry-based system. Validation was performed by gait analysis for eleven healthy individuals on a six-meters walkway using both PODOSmart® and Vicon system. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for gait parameters. ICC for the validation ranged from 0.313 to 0.990 in gait parameters. The highest ICC was observed in cadence, circumduction, walking speed, stride length and stride duration. PODOSmart® is a valid tool for gait analysis compared to the gold standard Vicon. As PODOSmart®, is a portable gait analysis tool with an affordable cost it can be a useful novel tool for gait analysis in healthy and pathological population.

It is recognized that gait analysis is a powerful tool used to capture human locomotion and quantify the related parameters. PODOSmart® insoles have been designed to provide accurate measurements for gait analysis. PODOSmart® insoles are lightweight, slim and cost-effective. A recent publication presented the characteristics and data concerning the validity of PODOSmart® insoles in gait analysis. In literature, there is still no evidence about the repeatability of PODOSmart® gait analysis system. Such evidence is essential in order to use this device in both research and clinical settings. The aim of the present study was to assess the repeatability of PODOSmart® system. In this context, it was hypothesized that the parameters of gait analysis captured by PODOSmart® would be repeatable. In a sample consisting of 22 healthy male adults, participants performed two walking trials on a six-meter walkway. The ICC values for 28 gait variables provided by PODOSmart® indicated good to excellent test-retest reliability, ranging from 0.802 to 0.997. The present findings confirm that PODOSmart® gait analysis insoles present excellent repeatability in gait analysis parameters. These results offer additional evidence regarding the reliability of this gait analysis tool.

Objective: Official reports and anecdotal evidence suggest that people with power frequently put pressure on athletes to fix a match. Therefore, it is assumed that athletes may attribute their involvement to this pressure. The present study was designed to investigate the role that power, attributions and moral emotions may play in the decision to fix a match.& nbsp; Method: Team and individual sport athletes (N = 427) competing in five European countries participated in a quasi-experimental vignette design. Participants completed eight vignettes manipulating power, source of attributions and stability of attributions. Match-fixing susceptibility and five discrete anticipated moral emotions (guilt, shame, pride, indifference, anger) were measured.& nbsp; Results: The results of the analyses demonstrated that athletes are perceived to be most susceptible to match fixing when the reason is related to a stable attribute of the individual (e.g., enjoying gambling, having a betting problem). However, participants reported also being susceptible to match-fixing when power is high. Anticipated emotions negatively predicted match-fixing susceptibility and mediated the effect of attributions and power on match-fixing susceptibility.& nbsp; Conclusion: The findings provide information on the interplay between attributions, power and anticipated emotions in predicting match-fixing susceptibility, and the determinants of match-fixing susceptibility. This will be of benefit to policy makers, sporting organizations and researchers in developing policies and interventions to protect athletes from being vulnerable to match-fixing requests.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) content means “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith”. Although ICH content, especially traditional folklore performing arts, is commonly considered worthy of preservation by UNESCO and the EU Treaty, most of the current research efforts are on the focus is on tangible cultural assets. The aim of Terpsichore project is to, analyze, design, research, train, implement and validate an innovative framework for affordable digitization, modelling, archiving, e-preservation and presentation of ICH content related to folk dances, in a wide range of users. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was involved in the performance of Greek traditional dances and the three-dimensional capturing and editing. The three-dimensional recordings were held at the Laboratory of “Motor Behaviour and Adapted Physical Activity”. For data capturing we used the Vicon 3D recording system. Two Greek traditional dances from different regions of Greece were performed and captured. The results of the three-dimensional capturing of movement showed that the assessment of left toe trajectories through markers gives us the ability to identify the differences between two types of the Greek traditional dance “Syrtos”, “Syrtos Makedonikos” and “Syrtos Kalamatianos”. The findings of this work add a new approach to improve Greek traditional dances identification through 3D motion kinematic data analysis. They represent optical and mathematical representation of the rhythm of Greek traditional dances which could be used for the purposes of Terpsichore project.

The use of doping substances constitutes one of the most significant threats in sport. The present study aimed at examining the beliefs of football players about anti-doping education, as well as their behaviour related to nutritional supplement use and doping use. The sample consisted of 186 football players from sports clubs in Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece. A self-reported questionnaire, which consisted of five parts, was administered to the football players. The findings revealed limited football players’ prior anti-doping education, which was not associated with their age and years of playing football in a club. However, footballers reported that they would be willing to learn about anti-doping. Online education was considered as the most effective way anti-doping education should be offered. Football players indicated behaviour related to nutritional supplement use that was reflective of a neutral stance, while their behaviour related to doping use was reflective of a negative stance. Their age did not differentiate their behaviour towards both nutritional supplement use and doping use. The worrying lack of knowledge about anti-doping among football players underlines the need for relevant education and prevention programmes. This research demonstrates that focusing on footballers’ beliefs and behaviours related to doping can provide some knowledge that will be useful in the fight against doping.

The UNESCO considers as part of the cultural heritage of a place, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) which is a practice, an expression or representation and knowledge or skill, as well as instruments, objects and cultural places. The cultural heritage includes the traditions or living expressions inherited from the ancestors and passed on to the descendants, not only the monuments or collections of objects. Such features are oral traditions, social practices, arts, festive events and generally, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. Terpsichore project targets at integrating the latest innovative results of photogrammetry, semantic technologies, computer vision and time evolved modelling, along with traditional choreography and narrative. The study, design, research, education, analysis, implementation and validation of an innovative framework for accessible digitization, modelling, archiving, online preservation and presentation of ICH content related folk dances is reflected in the project. The Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the Aristotle University was involved in the project in the performance of six traditional Greek dances and the three-dimensional capturing. Specifically, in the present work with the process of 3D recording of the movement of the Greek traditional dance “Syrtos in three”, the method for identifying the dancers’ gender will be proposed. The results showed that using 3D motion capturing we may recognize the sex of the dancer through the trajectories of toes markers and the kinematic data of joints angles. Regarding kinematic data founded differences at the means of angles of the hip, the knee and the ankle joints. Male dancers showed narrower angles in all mentioned joints of all six steps than the angles of female dancers during the implementation of the Greek traditional dance “Syrtos in three steps”.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) includes the practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill, as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces that are considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Intangible cultural heritage is considered by the Member States of UNESCO in relation to the tangible World Heritage focusing on intangible aspects of culture. Terpsichore project aims to, analyse, design, research, train, implement and validate an innovative framework for low cost digitisation, modelling, archiving, e-preservation and presentation of ICH content related to traditional dances, in a wide range of users. The Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was involved in the performance of Greek traditional dances and the three-dimensional capturing. We performed three-dimensional recordings at the Laboratory of "Motor Behaviour and Adapted Physical Activity". For data capturing, we used the Vicon 3D recording system. Six traditional Greek dances from different regions of Greece were performed and captured. The results of the three-dimensional capturing of movement showed that the assessment of foots' movement through markers gives us the ability to identify Greek traditional dances. Finally, we distributed data from the recordings to the project partners in order to further analyse them for the fulfilment of the project objectives. With the completion of Terpsichore project, a bundle of services will have been created, including virtual and augmented reality applications, interactive maps, presentation and learning of traditional European dances with a significant impact on European society culture and tourism sector.

In volunteering, the keyword is “donation”, and the historical evolution of volunteering is directly linked to “selfless charity”. Sport is largely based on volunteering. This paper extends knowledge of the nature of sport volunteering by exploring the perspectives of sport volunteers based on self-reported questionnaires. The sample involved 192 volunteers and 6 volunteers’ coordinators from both public and private sport organizations in Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece. A 42-item self-reported questionnaire was administered to measure participants’ perspectives on their competencies in the volunteering field. The internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for the perspectives on volunteering scale from volunteers and volunteers’ coordinators was high (a = .96). Regarding the evaluation of participants’ beliefs about their competencies in volunteering, results showed that they had a positive perspective. The results of the analyses demonstrated no significant differences between males and females in their beliefs about competencies in volunteering. In addition, the analyses showed no significant differences in participants’ beliefs about their competencies between the type of involvement (volunteer vs volunteer coordinator) and years of involvement. On the other hand, the results showed statistically significant differences in participants’ beliefs based on their educational level and their role in the sport organizations. The findings of the present study provide valuable information on the beliefs about competencies in volunteering that sport organisations can use to empower volunteers and make them more effective in offering their services in sport organizations.

Anti-doping education is currently at an early stage and there are several needs that must be addressed with respect to the design, implementation, and evaluation of anti-doping education programmes. Firstly, anti-doping education should be based on state-of-art learning pedagogies that will enable effective engagement, learning and retention of the learned material. Secondly, currently there is a lack of such a systematic approach for evaluating the behavior change outcomes of anti-doping educational interventions. Thirdly, there is a lack of other known anti-doping educational interventions that promote a positive approach to doping prevention. Finally, anti-doping educational interventions should incorporate the learning process in the context of new learning technologies that can also facilitate behavior change outcomes. The aim of this study is to present highlight the importance of anti-doping, conduct a state of the art about serious games design, present an initial design of a serious game for anti-doping education the project, and summarize GAME’s future work.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00717.].

Match-fixing is an ongoing threat to the integrity, reputation, and societal welfare dimension of sports. The present study aimed to develop an online educational tool against match-fixing by using the co-creation approach in the context of the “Fix the Fixing” Project. Participants were 18 young athletes from Greece who took part in the co-creation workshops. The analysis of the co-creation workshops revealed several social and psychological consequences related to match-fixing. Also, participants emphasized the need for education with respect to match fixing for those involved in competitive sports. Another significant issue that emerged was the importance of fair play and the usefulness of sharing experiences of match fixing as information source. The findings of the present study provide valuable information about the athletes needs for education material provided by online means regarding the complex global threat of match-fixing applying the usefulness of a co-creation approach in guiding future preventive and educational strategies against match-fixing.

Considering the rise of reported instances of harmful irregularities in sport, it is of paramount importance to safeguard sport from unethical and illegal practices through whistleblowing. The present study aimed to develop an online educational tool to raise awareness about whistleblowing by using the co-creation approach, in the context of the “Sport WHISTLE” Project. Participants were 18 young athletes from Greece who took part in the co-creation workshops. Regarding the results, athletes didn’t perceive what the whistleblowing is. A significant issue that was emerged was the legitimacy and the responsibility of whistleblowing. Also, athletes acknowledged that attitudes, social norms and controllability play a key role in whistleblowing. Finally, the reasons for or against whistleblowing were identified. The findings of the present study offer a better insight into the athletes needs for online education regarding the whistleblowing of harmful irregularities in sport applying the usefulness of a co-creation approach in guiding future preventive and educational strategies promoting whistleblowing.

Tennis is an intermittent sport characterized by repeated high-intensity efforts during a variable period of time. Aiming to be competitive and successful, tennis players need a mixture of speed, agility, and power combined with high aerobic fitness. Plyometrics are training techniques used by athletes in all types of sports to increase strength and explosiveness. The objectivity of the performance measure varies through measures such as: time, checklists, or established criteria. Makey Makey is an invention kit for everyone, is an electronic invention tool and toy that allows users to connect everyday objects to computer programs. The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 8-week plyometric training program on tennis specific agility. Secondly, this study was directed towards examining objectivity evaluation among three different evaluators/coaches and highlight the need to use new technologies in order to evaluate performance on agility objectively. 24 male amateur tennis players participated in this study. Subjects separated randomly in two groups, the first group underwent an intervention of a 8 week plyometric program. In order to examine agility we used two tennis specific agility test. 3 independent coaches were used in order to measure participants score on each test. When we use the mean scores of coaches we show that the experimental group showed significant improvement on doth test. We also examined the differences and the correlations among coach’s test in order to estimate the objectivity. Our findings highlight the need of mew technologies in order to improve objectivity in laboratory and field measurements. Here we suggest the use, and the development of suitable software for the Makey Makey device.